An alleged attempt by US President, Joe Biden, to denounce racist comments made by a speaker at a rally for Donald Trump sparked outrage as he was accused by Mr Trump and other Republicans of labelling their followers as “rubbish”. This happened just days before an intense competition between Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and Mr Trump, which will determine the leader of the globe’s principal economy. Biden and his administration swiftly moved to curtail any further backlash caused by the misstep.
The controversy commenced when at a rally at Madison Square Garden, New York, on Sunday, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe described Puerto Rico as a “floating rubbish dump”. This was among a string of vulgar and racial insults thrown by allies of Trump at the event.
Mr Biden called out the racial abuse about Puerto Rico expressed by the supporters of Trump at his rally in Madison Square Garden in a fundraising call on Tuesday. According to a transcript published on X by a spokesperson from the White House, Biden said, “His – his belittlement of Latinos is inexcusable and it’s against American ideals. The only rubbish I see floating out there is his supporter’s”.
Subsequent criticism followed, suggesting that Biden’s ‘rubbish’ comment was targeted at Trump supporters in general. Hence, he sought to clarify his statement on X, noting that his comments were meant to address Trump’s vilification of Latinos and not an attack on his supporters. He further added that the comments made at the rally did not depict America’s true identity.
However, Republicans took advantage of the comment, likening it to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 statement where she referred to Trump’s supporters as “deplorables”. This was followed by her defeat by Trump in a significant electoral upset. Trump, who is just a point behind Harris in the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted before the November 5th election, also reacted to Biden’s comment.
In a recent post on platform X, Mr. Trump accused Joe Biden of labelling their followers as ‘rubbish’, arguing that to guide America, one must have affection for its people. “Joe Biden now adds insult to injury by calling our backers ‘rubbish’. If you lack love for the American public, you simply cannot rule this nation,” he wrote.
His political partner, JD Vance, expressed his strong distaste towards these comments, stating: “It’s absolutely appalling. Joe Biden and his deputy Kamala Harris are launching an onslaught on half the population of our country.” Prior to this, Mr. Vance had endorsed a statement made by Hinchcliffe, asserting, “It’s imperative that we cease to take umbrage at every minor incident in the United States of America,” as per Reuters.